Join Up to Save Scheele’s

As described yesterday, a group of Georgetown residents is organizing to help save Scheele’s Market. At yesterday’s ANC meeting, the group’s leader Mike Peabody spoke and solicited participation from the community. Mr. Peabody left too early for GM to get his contact information, but reader Jim McCarthy tracked it down for him. The background story and Mr. Peabody’s contact information after the jump:

For those just joining us, Scheele’s Market is one of the stars in the Georgetown neighborhood market constellation. It has been opened for over 100 years. Unfortunately, the Scheele family now wants to sell the property (the Lee family has been operating the market for over 20 years). Georgetown resident Marc Teren has stepped forward and made an offer of $1.325 million for the property. While Mr. Teren has promised to keep the market open, he has had a bumpy history with the neighborhood and many do not place a ton of confidence in his words.

Under DC law the tenant of the property has a right of first refusal when the owner wants to sell. In this case the tenant is Beth Wainwright, and she is allied with the group hoping to save Scheele’s. To save Scheele’s outright, the group would presumably need to raise $1.325 million dollars. GM has suggested that maybe a well organized group could be enough of an impediment to extract a binding promise out of Mr. Teren to ensure the market’s future.

Either way, if you’re interested in joining the cause, email Mike Peabody at mpeabody (at) ptmanagement.com and let him know you want to help out.

Once a market like Scheele’s is gone, it’s gone for good…